increased ability to take breaks. However, the majority of doctors are still not exception-reporting missing breaks: 79% (2019), 74% (2020). Lessons Learnt Whilst improved rest facilities were welcomed, this report recommends the maintenance of increased staffing levels and fatigue facilities during the recovery phase of COVID-19. The remaining £14,524.38 should be directed at creating shower facilities, upgrading computer hardware and sustaining the quality of KGH fatigue facilities. Lastly, the rate of exception-reporting must be increased through improving awareness, exploring alternative methods and supporting the action when necessary. The continual investment into rest facilities not only ensure workforce wellbeing but undoubtedly translates into the safety of our patients.
Introduction/Background Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune condition characterised by fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. A considerable number of patients with systemic sclerosis may present with symptoms of other connective tissue disorders over time. The onset of overlap syndromes affects management and prognosis. We present a case of a 46-year-old man with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis who presented with significant proteinuria secondary to lupus nephritis, and non-healing leg ulcers secondary to pyoderma gangrenosum, a condition that is rarely associated with SLE or systemic sclerosis. To our knowledge there are no published reports of SSc-SLE-Pyoderma Gangrenosum Overlap. Description/Method In 2004, a 28-year-old Black man presented to the rheumatology clinic with a history of Raynaud’s phenomenon, digital ulcers, sclerodactyly and widespread telangiectasiae. He was ANA (nucleolar pattern), anti-Ro and anti-Jo1 positive, however he did not have clinical features of Sjogren’s syndrome or anti-synthetase syndrome. He was diagnosed with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis and managed with Nifedipine and Sildenafil. Over the next decade of rheumatology clinic monitoring he did not develop pulmonary hypertension or organ involvement. In 2018, he was admitted to hospital with a pulmonary embolus and had a negative thrombophilia screen and antiphospholipid syndrome screen. Immunology revealed new autoantibodies: anti-Smith, Anti-U1RNP and anti-dsDNA. In 2021, aged 46-years, he was admitted to hospital with a large, painful punched-out ulcer on his left medial malleolus that was rapidly expanding. In addition, he had noticed significant weight loss and breathlessness on minimal exertion. He was hypoalbuminemic (albumin = 30g/l [35-52] ) with proteinuria (urine protein:creatinine ratio 150mg/mmol), however his creatinine and eGFR were normal. Immunology was unchanged. He had hypocomplementenemia. He was ANCA and Cryoglobulin negative. CT chest-abdomen-pelvis showed small pleural effusions but no malignancy or infection. Echocardiogram showed a small pericardial effusion with normal pulmonary artery pressures. Vascular doppler scans showed normal arterial circulation in his lower limbs. Microbiology reported a significant growth of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa from the leg ulcer swab and the skin biopsy showed neutrophilic infiltrates in the dermis, consistent with pyoderma gangrenosum. Renal biopsy was consistent with lupus nephritis class III and V. In-patient management included a course of antibiotics for the Pseudomonas Aeruginosa infection followed by oral Prednisolone and Mycophenolate Mofetil for lupus nephritis. The proteinuria has resolved and the left leg ulcer has reduced in size however he has developed new ulcers on the right leg which are being treated at present. Discussion/Results Overlap connective tissue disorders are well recognised in rheumatology. This patient initially presented with features of limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (Raynaud’s phenomenon, digital ulcers and sclerodactyly). Limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis is typically associated with anti-centromere antibodies, but it can also be associated with nucleolar staining pattern of ANA or anti-Ro antibodies, which was seen in this patient. On presentation with a pulmonary embolus in 2018, his antibody profile showed anti-dsDNA, anti-Smith, anti-U1RNP, low complements although he had no clinical features suggestive of SLE. When he later presented with a leg ulcer, he had serositis and a raised protein-creatinine ratio, more consistent with SLE. He was normotensive and had a normal creatinine, which would go against a scleroderma renal crisis, and indeed the renal biopsy confirmed lupus nephritis. The incidence of overlap between SLE-SSc has been found to be 8.4% to 14.4% in some studies. Previous studies have shown that patients with SLE-SSc overlap have less frequent skin manifestations whereas our patient had florid telangiectasiae. Pyoderma gangrenosum is an uncommon ulcerative skin disease which has a well-recognised association with inflammatory bowel disease but it can also be seen with autoimmune rheumatic diseases. It is rarely seen with SLE and limited systemic sclerosis and has not been reported with an overlap syndrome. It is important to exclude chronic vascular ulcers, pyodermatitis and non-infectious aetiologies like vasculitis. Vasculitis was an important differential diagnosis in this case, as the leg ulcers emerged at the same time as lupus nephritis. Vasculitis was excluded as a diagnosis based on the biopsy and immunology reports. This case demonstrates an uncommon association between pyoderma gangrenosum with an SSc-SLE overlap syndrome. Pyoderma gangrenosum responds well to systemic steroids or immunosuppressants, therefore it is unusual that the leg ulcers are progressing. He has been referred for further investigations. Key learning points/Conclusion Limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis is characterised by calcinosis, Raynaud’s phenomenon, oesophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly and telangiectasiae (previously known as CREST). It’s association with anti-centromere antibodies is well recognized, although studies have shown that it is only positive in 20-30% of patients with limited SSc. It is important to remember that limited SSc may be only ANA positive, but can also be associated with other auto-antibodies, including anti-Ro, as highlighted by this case. An overlap syndrome is defined as a disease complex when the classification criteria for two different connective tissue diseases are satisfied. The diseases may present simultaneously or at different time points in the patient journey, as is the case with this patient who was diagnosed with SLE almost 2 decades after his initial diagnosis with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis. Among scleroderma overlap syndromes SSc-SLE is the second most common after SSc-polymyositis. This case highlights the importance of repeating the serology when the clinical phenotype changes. It is beneficial to recognise overlap syndromes as they require alternative treatment strategies and early intervention improves prognosis. SSc-SLE overlap syndrome demographic data shows predominance in female patients; patients of South and East Asian ethnicity and patients with disease onset at a young age. SSc-SLE clinical manifestations include musculoskeletal disease (62.5%) and limited cutaneous systems sclerosis (32.2%) with lung and cardiac involvement being reported in young patients. Pyoderma gangrenosum is usually diagnosed after excluding infectious and noninfectious causes of cutaneous ulcers. Diagnosis requires a skin biopsy showing inflammatory neutrophilic infiltrates in the dermis or a response to steroid therapy. It is important to recognise this condition early so that clinically appropriate treatment is initiated and prognosis improves.
Background/Aims Biologic therapy and treat to target have significantly improved patient outcomes and we now have a proportion of patients on biologic therapy who remain in clinical remission. NICE guidance suggests “cautiously reducing drug doses or stopping drugs in those who have maintained the treatment target”. Despite this guidance, little is known about current clinical practice of biologic tapering in UK rheumatology centres. We aimed to illustrate current practice and success rates in biologic tapering in a real-world setting in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PSA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods We identified patients who were potentially suitable for biologic tapering 1 week prior to their follow up appointment using the following criteria - any anti-TNFα biologic ≥ 1 year, RA patients (DAS28 CRP<3.2, CRP normal), PSA patients (no swollen joints, CRP normal, no extra-articular manifestations), AS patients (BASDAI<4, CRP normal). We then analysed how many patients were successfully tapered at one year. Tapering schedule was decided by the supervising rheumatologist. Results From December 2018 to February 2019, 66 patients were identified as being suitable for biologic tapering. 3 patients did not attend and were excluded from further analysis. Tapered group: 20 (32%) patients were tapered. Based on the retrospective review of clinic letters, the “tapering schedule” was inconsistent and the information provided to patients if they flared was also inconsistent - 9 (45%) patients were advised to return to their normal dose and only 1 (5%) patient was advised to contact the helpline. After 12 months of follow up, 11 (55%) patients remained on the tapered dose, 7 (35%) patients returned to their prior dose and 2 (10%) patients were lost to follow up. Non-tapered group: 43 (68%) patients were not tapered. The reasons for not tapering were divided into 6 broad categories: active disease (n = 15, 35%), patient choice (n = 5, 12%), DMARD was tapered instead (n = 5, 12%), discuss at next visit (n = 3, 7%), reason not mentioned (n = 12, 28%), other (n = 3, 7%) Conclusion This Quality Improvement Project has highlighted the inconsistencies in biologic tapering in a UK real-world setting. In response to this inconsistency, we have developed a departmental guideline which provides stringent criteria to identify patients at lowest risk of flaring and standardises a tapering schedule and clinical pathway. We also created a patient information leaflet that could be distributed. Only half of the patients remained on the tapered dose after 1 year, suggesting a significant proportion of patients flare following dose reduction. However, our findings may be limited by small sample size. National guidance and a thorough audit based on this guidance is welcomed. Disclosure Z. Rutter-locher: None. Y. Long Man: None. L. Marsh: None. S. Mercer: None. B. Menon: None. A. Cope: None.
A 42 year-old Caribbean woman with, known type 2 diabetes, was admitted with worsening fatigue, arthritis and rashes. She was diagnosed with multisystem systemic lupus erythematosus and was initially treated with systemic steroids. During this admission, she had persistently elevated capillary glucose levels with insulin requirements over 8 U/kg/day that still did not control her blood glucose levels. Due to her profound hyperglycaemia, serum samples of fasting insulin, C-peptide, paired with blood glucose were analysed, which confirmed significant hyperinsulinaemia. Further analysis confirmed the presence of insulin receptor antibodies consistent with type B insulin resistance.She was started on intravenous cyclophosphamide (Euro-Lupus regimen) along with continuous glucose monitoring system. After completing her six cycles of cyclophosphamide, she no longer required insulin treatment. The goal of therapy for our patient with confirmed type B insulin resistance was to manage hyperglycaemia with high doses of insulin until autoantibodies were eliminated with immunosuppressive therapy.
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